I’m sore. But, it’s a good kind of sore. It was a steady week of catching, netting, and filleting. I started the week out struggling to find schools of reds. We found a few, just not the right numbers. Mother/daughter Kelly and Stella pose with the days haul. On Monday, the morning started off slow, but by afternoon Chris, …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/13/25
It’s happening. As my mentor Jeff King would say, “Eatin’ is cheatin’ and sleep is the enemy. Welcome to the red season.” It’s still a bit early in the run, but the number of fish moving through has been strong. That’s for both red and king salmon. Yes, even king salmon. Because the historic peak of the run happens later …
2024 Red Salmon Recap
The best run of salmon in the Kenai River in 2024 was the red salmon run. Specifically, the late run of red salmon from mid July to early August. It was an incredible time to be fishing. Let’s review the data. The early red salmon run (Russian River) had an escapement goal of 22,000-42,000 fish. The final weir count …
Fishing Report Week Ending 9/1/24
This was the first full week of a reduced silver salmon limit. I was hoping that the run was late, but clearly ADFG made the right call. The fishing this past week was steady. Steady slow. Day 1, Blinn Week 3. Larry, Steve, Jo Ray, and Josh. The extra fish is a bonus red salmon. Day 2, Blinn Week 3. Robert started out with …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/11/24
Usually, the transition from red salmon fishing to pink and silver salmon fishing is seamless. Not this year. It’s been a struggle to find good numbers of salmon all week. Rising and dirty water doesn’t help either. I’ll start out the blog post with the first silver caught this year from the boat. I think Dennis …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/4/24
It was a fun week fishing the Kenai River. I was able to spend quality time with long time friends, and make a few new ones too. The catching was pretty good also… Sunday morning Todd, Renee, and Ray kept me on my toes netting fish. Sunday afternoon was spent dipnetting with Steve Dan, and Joe (not …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/28/24
There were a lot of fish in the river this past week, except for Monday. I have no idea why so few came in that day, but that’s just the way it goes. On Sunday, it wasn’t fast fishing, but boy was it steady. Here are Greg, Rick, Hunter, Tanner, and Quinton with their haul. I have no fish photos for Monday. Instead, I’ll …
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/14/24
Kenai River insiders believe when 20,000 reds cross the sonar counter the river is “fishable”. Every day last week, the daily sonar counted much more than 20,000 fish a day. The largest count came on Monday when 56,130 reds came in. It’s definitely “fishable”. Is everybody catching limits? No. But overall it’s been good …
Fishing Report Week Ending 6/9/24
Tuesday was the first day I ventured out on the Kenai River to try to catch a fish. The target species: Russian River bound red salmon passing through the lower river. Hellooo! Winner, winner, salmon dinner. It only took me three flips(casts) to catch my first river fish of the year. Yeah!!! The rest of the …
Fishing Report Week Ending 8/15/21
It was a seamless transition this week from red salmon fishing to silver salmon fishing. The red salmon fishing has been incredible, and the silver salmon fishing has been a lot better than I anticipated. I’m excited about the week ahead because the silver fishing will improve when the no bait restriction is lifted on August …